


Lost Lighters and Unexpected Kisses

by bex_xo



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, I Don't Even Know, I blame swimmingfox for this, but i love her, crackship, just embrace it, the world may never know, why am i shipping this?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 08:59:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5822470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bex_xo/pseuds/bex_xo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fishing through her crossbody bag that Sansa insisted she wear, Arya digs out her own pack of cigarettes, knowing her mother would kill her if she knew, but failing to come up with her lighter. Goddammit, she realizes with a start, Jon used it on the ride over, he must still have it. It earned her an eye roll from Sansa, but her goody two-shoes sister readily accepts the drag her boyfriend offers with a practiced ease. Searching around the deck, she’s a little more than shocked when her eyes land on Podrick Payne. He’s a quiet guy, she knows him more in passing than personally, his friends being casual acquaintances with Gendry's gang, not the type you would expect to see at a house party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost Lighters and Unexpected Kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [swimmingfox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/swimmingfox/gifts).



[Picset! ](http://paperflowercrowns.tumblr.com/post/138069874622/podrickarya-modern-au-lost-lighters-and)  
\---  
  
Another fight. Another break up. Though this time it didn’t feel quite as temporary as all the others, the finality of Gendry’s goodbye hung over her like a dark cloud for weeks on end. Things get better after a while. Sansa suddenly becomes her best friend somehow and makes her get out instead of moping around, even invites her to a house party.  
  
It’s basically the same kind of party she would have gone to with her friends, except there’s about a million more people milling around this house, and there’s more than just cheap beer covered in a thin layer of ice in a cooler. Sansa drags her to the kitchen, pours herself a cup of Diet Coke and Captain Morgan and runs off to find where her boyfriend Jon went off, leaving Arya to her own devices for the time being. Filling her own cup with beer from the keg on the counter, she wanders around the house packed with bodies, making small talk with the few people here she actually knows before heading to the back deck for some much needed air.  
  
The sun has set already and while it’s not exactly cold, it’s considerably cooler out here under the stars than inside where the party is going full swing. The deck is surprisingly empty, a few stragglers finishing the last of their cigarettes before heading back inside for more free beer. Fishing through her crossbody bag that Sansa insisted she wear, Arya digs out her own pack of cigarettes, knowing her mother would kill her if she knew, but failing to come up with her lighter.  
  
_Goddammit_ , she realizes with a start, _Jon used it on the ride over, he must still have it._ It earned her an eye roll from Sansa, but her goody two-shoes sister readily accepts the drag her boyfriend offers with a practiced ease. Searching around the deck, she’s a little more than shocked when her eyes land on Podrick Payne. He’s a quiet guy, she knows him more in passing than personally, his friends being casual acquaintances with Gendrys gang, not the type you would expect to see at a house party.   
  
_Oh fuck it. I need a lighter anyway,_ she thinks when she realizes he’s finishing a cigarette of his own. Silently she pads over to the deck chair Podrick is sitting in, clearing her throat to get is attention but half managing to scare the poor guy anyway. Flashing her brightest smile, Arya holds out her cigarette before asking if she can bum a light. Podrick fumbles for half a second, digging the BIC out of this pocket before handing it to her, not saying a word the whole time.  
  
The nicotine hits her lungs with a slow, sinful sweet burn, and Arya takes up the chair next to Podrick. Closing her eyes, she relishes the cozy quiet of the setting, though fully aware of the dumbstruck young man sitting next to her.  
  
“Yes?” She asks, flicking the ash away from herself and Podrick.  
  
“Do you even know who I am?” He manages, voice an enduring stutter.  
  
“Yeah, you’re Podrick Payne. Do you know who I am?”  
  
“Of course. Arya Stark. I’ve seen you with Gendry Waters around town.”  
  
“Well you won’t be seeing me with Gendry any longer. We’ve moved on from each other. For good.” Arya says, and it feels theraputic to admit it to someone she’s not related to.      
  
“Oh. That explains the blonde I saw him with inside.” Podrick says with a nervous chuckle.   
  
Throwing the butt of her cigarette into the ashtray sitting by their chairs, Arya jumps up from her seat. Of course there was always a chance of Gendry showing up to the same house party she’d be at, but this wasn’t exactly either of their circles of friends.   
  
“He’s fucking here? In the house? Who the hell does he even know here?” She asks, even though she’s not really looking for answers. Podrick looks like he wants to answer, but abruptly stops himself when Arya shoots him a look that could kill.   
  
She paces across the deck, her hands tangling up in her hair before digging into her purse for another cigarette. Podrick tosses her is lighter before pulling out another cigarette for himself, catching the lighter easily when Arya lobs it back at him.   
  
“Who do you even know here?” She finally asks when she’s halfway through her smoke, calming down even though her heart is racing right out her chest.  
  
“Other than you? A handful of my friends wanted to come to this party, and dragged me here with them. Not exactly my social scene, which is why you found me back here.” He says on an exhale, smoke engulfing his already shadowy figure.  
  
“Yeah well my sister dragged me here, but ran off to make out with her boyfriend. And now that I know Gendry is here, not a chance in hell I’m going back inside anytime soon. At least you’ll have some company now.” She says before settling back into the chair she previously occupied.   
  
“I’ve had worse.” Podrick replies, readjusting his light grey beanie before he lounges back on the deck chair. “So why are you so scared of seeing Gendry? Did it end that bad?”   
  
“I’m not scared.”  
  
Podrick huffs a laugh and points out that she was just pacing the deck and smoked a cigarette in roughly a minute.   
  
“Oh whatever. I’m not scared. I’m just not entirely ready to see him yet is all. As far as breakups go, it was tame for us, but it was so fucking final too. Seeing him now would just be too weird. We both need time to adjust.”  
  
“So you’re not over him is what you’re saying?” Podrick asks, turning his head towards her before leaning over to grab the pack of cigarettes sitting by the ashtray. Plucking one from her own pack, Arya leaned forward to the lighter Podrick held out after lighting his own. She’s never been one for chain smoking, but there is something so easy in this with Podrick that she doesn’t give it much thought.  
  
“I’ve never been with anyone else. Gendry and I have been together since I was 15, and I’m 19 in two months. So yeah, maybe I’m not quite over him, but I’m trying. I just didn’t expect to run into him here, while he’s with someone else.” She explains, earning a silent nod from the serious guy sitting next to her. Finishing their cigarettes in silence, Arya looks up at the night sky and wonders what she ever did to end up at the same house party as her ex-boyfriend who she hasn't seen since their breakup.  
  
"Do you still skate?" The question comes out of nowhere, and it takes Arya a second to realize what he's talking about.   
  
"Oh yeah, I still get out on my board every once in a while. Haven't been to the skate park in ages though. Why? Do you still?" When shes asks a memory comes back to her clear as day, being 15 years old and hanging out at the skate park with Hot Pie and Lommy, usually clumsy Podrick Payne being surprisingly good, and him always sneaking a smile in her general direction.  
  
"Uh yeah. I do. Not as much as I'd like, but enough so I don't get rusty." She swears he's blushing, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck in a nervous but cute manner.   
  
"We should go out sometime. I mean. To the skate park." Arya says to him before she even really thinks about it.  
  
"Yeah?" He asks, leaning over the arm of his deck chair and grabbing a bottle of water from underneath.  
  
"Yeah. It would be fun!" Arya says with as much enthusiasm as she can manage, before taking a long swig from her nearly forgotten beer.  
  
"We don't have to go to the skate park you know. We could just go out." Podrick says with a hopeful smile.  
  
"Are you asking me out? After I just admitted that I'm not entirely over my ex-boyfriend?"  
  
"Well. Yes. Should I not?" Podrick replies, his voice cracking just enough that it reminds her of when she was 15 again.  
  
"Uh. I don't know. I'm not entirely sure how this all works you know. If Sansa was here, she'd be able to tell me, but she's off with Jon so.. Maybe?"  
  
"Maybe, yes you will? Or maybe, no it's too early? Help a guy out Arya."  
  
Biting her lip, Arya screws her eyes shut before pulling one last cigarette from her now empty pack, she'll have to go buy more tomorrow morning, but it's been worth it this past hour or so sitting on this deck with Podrick. Podrick wordlessly hands her his lighter, and this time she holds the light out for him to light his own cigarette off of. Breathing in deeply, Arya exhales and opens her eyes to see Podrick's eyes trained on her, so intently watching what shes doing and despite it not being any colder than when she came outside, she feels a shiver run down her spine.   
  
"Maybe, yes I will." She whispers.   
  
He just nods silently, taking another pull from his cigarette before reaching down to pull up the ashtray and puts the butt into their ever growing pile. Podrick holds up one finger, just as silently as before, and grabs his bottle of water and takes a swig. Arya is completely bewildered by his actions, watching Podrick as he swallows the mouthful of water before shaking his head like he's trying to clear his mind.   
  
One second he's sitting across from her, the next his hands are cupping her face and his lips are pressed to hers. It takes her a second to respond, but then her eyes slide shut and she's wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him back like it's the most natural thing in the world. His lips are soft, softer than any other guys she's ever kissed before, and his scruff is a pleasant rub against her chin. Suddenly she understands why Sansa complains when Jon is clean shaven, because kissing a guy with facial hair really is better. His fingers slide up to wrap in her hair, and she's a sigh against his mouth, opening enough to allow his tongue entrance. He tastes like the cigarette's they have been smoking all night, but she supposes she must taste that way too.   
  
They kiss like this for hours, or maybe it's just minutes, she's too buzzed from the feeling to tell when they finally pull apart. Podrick leans his forehead against hers and they both breathe heavily before Podrick lets out a laugh.   
  
"What's so funny?" She asks, poking him in the ribs.  
  
"I've wanted to do that since you were 15 and at the skate park." He says with a shrug, sitting back down on his own chair but wrapping his fingers around her own.   
  
"Well if you play your cards right, you'll get to do that again." Arya says with a smile, tightening her fingers around his own.   
  
And suddenly everything was starting to look up. 

**Author's Note:**

> So swimmingfox has been playing with Podrick/Arya in her "Wolfgirl In Braavos" fic and basically I've fallen in love with this ship idea. 
> 
> This is unbeta'd and completely off the cuff, so all errors are mine. Apologizes!


End file.
